The War
by eiak
Summary: Now, I don't support Dramione, but I did try to write it so that it fit well into the 19 year gap that J.K. Rowling did not explain in the books, although she does go deeper in interviews, etc. but if you have only read the books (and/or watched the movies) without reading/watching/listening to interviews, it should fit (If you haven't read the books it might not make sense).
1. ch 1 The War

The War. The worst war the Wizarding world has ever experienced. Good versus evil. Light versus darkness. And I'm fighting.

Harry could be dead. Ron could be dead. Everyone I care about could be dead, but Voldermort is still living, so I have something to fight for. The tears rolling down my cheeks trickle into the open gashes and cuts on my face, running out red with blood. Tears of blood. Fires blazing all around me, spells and curses ricocheting off the pillars of stone surrounding me. Flashes of light, the last screams of my friends and enemies echoing through the air.

I hear a voice yelling out. Above all the rest. I realise the voice is aimed at me.

"Granger!" Not what I want to hear right now. I need to live. I need to know that Voldermort will die. I won't be killed by Draco Malfoy.

"Granger!" He knows where I am, I run from my safe, secret place. I run, run to nowhere. That's the only place I'll be safe now, nowhere. I hear him run closer to me. Tears running down my face, blood dripping from my clothes, sweat clinging to my hair and face, I keep running, because my life depends on this, and this alone. I must run.

"Hermione!" I heard him say it. I know I did, but it wasn't his voice. Not the voice that makes me sick, that makes me cry, that doesn't know my name, but a different voice, one that speaks my name, that knows my name, that would never hurt me…

"Hermione!" I stop, I turn around. Is this what he wants? Is this a plan, another way to kill me? For all I know It could be, but still, I turn around to face him. I take in every detail, his gelled blonde hair blown out of place and painted with blood, his bottom lip, swollen and bleeding, his stunningly grey, but bloodshot eyes, his right hand, clutched tightly around his mother's wand…

I jump back and start stepping away, does he really want to kill me? Could he do it? I know he hates me, but it takes someone very sick, very deranged to kill a person, hate isn't enough. My life is hanging by a thread, with only one person who can control whether I live or die. Draco Malfoy.

He stops, looks at his hand, releases his wand a little and looks back up at me. I sigh silently, he can't have any power over me. I won't let him, but what does he want? "Hermione, listen, please… I know you probably think I'm going to kill you now, am I right?" I nod silently, waiting to see if he's just leading me on… He continues quickly "Hermione, I don't want to kill you. You don't need to know why. My father is coming. He _does_ want to kill you, but I have a way to stop him, you are-" I start to speak, but he cuts me off before any sound can come out "You aren't going to like it, but whatever I do or say… please don't fight it. To save our lives."

I still don't quite understand, and Mr. Malfoy isn't around, so I assume there is time for him to explain quickly what I need to do, or why he's helping me. "Mal- Draco… I don't know why you're doing this, but thank you, I just want to know why you'd risk your life for me… what if it doesn't work and he kills us both?" He sighs "Hermione, that's something we're just going to have to ignore for now, if he kills you, I'll wish I was dead, if he kills us both, I won't have to, and if he doesn't kill either of us… then we consider ourselves lucky… ok?"

I'm a little confused still, some things make sense, but more questions are starting to appear in my head; Why does he want to risk his life for me? Why would he want to die if I died? What is this 'plan' going to do that will stop his father from killing us? Is he making this up so I'll trust him and then he can kill me? Does he really hate me? The way he was talking makes me think that he might not…

Just as I am about to ask the first of these questions, he takes hold of my shoulders and pulls me towards himself quickly, pushing his forehead against mine. I cringe and tense up. He whispers "My father is coming, he's going to kill you if I don't do this, he might do it anyway, but it's worth anything to try and stop that. Please don't hate me for this!"

Just as I'm about to look up at him, he pulls me in closer and kisses me, his hands move from my shoulders to my back and he pulls me closer into his body. I want to let go of him, pull away, but I know my life is depending on this, and he told me to play along. So, reluctantly, I put my left hand on his waist, and reach my right hand up to his hair and clench a fist full of it.

"Draco!" all of a sudden he pulls away. Lucius Malfoy is standing in front of me, looking disheveled, shocked, and overall furious. "Father," Draco began, sounding genuinely surprised (he's a good actor, I'll give him that), but Lucius cuts him off "Draco Malfoy! You dare to defy the name of Malfoy like that? This _mudblood_ is our enemy, she-" Draco cuts Lucius off this time "Don't call her that! Don't you ever! She hasn't got dirty blood-" he pauses and looks me up and down, at the cuts and gashes in my skin "Well not in that sense anyway. Hermione has muggle parents. That shouldn't bother you. I hated her for it a long time ago. Now I realise how childish I was to think that."

Mr. Malfoy looks stunned, as if he has been slapped in the face. "Draco! How dare you speak to me in that way!" he hisses. "Granger is fighting for the wrong side. Surely you must know that." Draco closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "No, father. _You_ are fighting for the wrong side."

Lucius stops and his eyes widen. He exhales menacingly, then disapparates. Draco turns to me. "Hermione I'm so sorry about that, please don't hate me for it! I hope you know I did it for a reason, I did it to save our lives, and you can't be too upset, it worked, and you-" I try to take in what he is saying, but he's going way too fast and I feel the need to interrupt "Draco! I know you did that for a reason, I know you had to, and I guess I should thank you for it. Look, it's great that I'm still alive, and it's great that you are too, and you know what…" I sigh as he looks at me, waiting for me to continue "You're a great actor. I guess that's something I didn't know about you."

I start to leave, but he stops me "Actor?" he says, looking confused and slightly taken aback. I look at him, taking in his expression, he seems to mean what he said, but I suddenly remember all the questions that I was going to ask before his father interrupted us. I can't think of how to say them, so I jut say what my mind is thinking "Before, what did you mean by 'if he kills you, I'll wish I was dead'? Do you really _not_ hate me anymore? Or was that just a way of getting me to go along with it?"

Draco just looks at me for a moment. "I _really_ don't hate you Hermione. Why would I want you to live, why would I risk my life for you if I still hated you?" he says, smiling. I don't think I've ever seen him smile kindly "That was my next question." I whisper, wondering whether it's bad that I still dislike him a little.


	2. ch 2 Draco POV

Strange things happen when you don't know what you're doing. I just made friends with Hermione Granger. I kissed her, to save her life, and now we're friends. I wish I still hated her. People say that when you're friends with a person… it's very hard to become anything more than that. I hate that I don't hate her. I wish she wasn't with that Weasley idiot, too though. What would have happened if I had been put in Gryffindor, after my father disowned me of course.

She's at the Weasley's house now. She's sorted everything out with her parents. She had to remove their memories so they would forget her, so that they would not be found by deatheaters. I wish I could forget her. I'm still at Hogwarts. I'm not going home. Not after father saw me kissing Hermione. I'd be kicked out straight away, so there's no point anyway.

I hear a voice coming from behind me. "Draco? You're still here?" I look up. It's Hermione! "Um, yeah, I don't think I'm going back to the 'Malfoy Manor' now, not after last night." she sits down beside me "I'm so sorry. You didn't need to do that for me, you know, last night… I'm sure your father wasn't specifically after me." I look down into her muddy brown eyes. Her left eye is half-closed and swollen, as a deep cut streaks from her eyebrow to the top of her nose, the eyelid isn't cut through, but it looks painful.

"My father… he… he would have found you eventually… he was looking for… muggle borns." I reach out and brush a few hairs from her face. She smiles and takes my hand. "Thank you." she says softly. I gently stroke the cut that covers her left eye, she winces and takes my other hand too. Then she stands up and leads me into the castle, still holding my left hand. We walk up to the old astronomy tower, the roof is gone, and the outer walls are gone too. Hermione sits on the edge of the floor and I sit beside her.

After a while we start talking. We talk for a long time and eventually the sun is directly above us, I look at my watch, it has stopped working. Hermione looks at her's "Midday." she says. She stands and we walk back down to the front of the castle "I've got to go home. Mum and Dad just remembered they have a daughter, I think I need to be with them at the moment." she says and lets go of my hand. It feels limp and a little sweaty after three hours of being interlocked with hers. I wish she didn't have to go. I wish I wanted her to go. I wish she didn't have this impact on me. Why do I feel this way? I don't want to. Not at all.

I slowly wander back into the castle and sit there for a while. Slowly the sky gets darker and it's almost night again, it's six o'clock. I start walking out of the castle, not sure where to go. Then Hermione runs up to me. She's back? Again? "Draco, there's a place you can stay. Now I think you should talk to your parents, but I know you might not want to live with them, so I found a place for you. It can be as permanent as you like. There's this little run-down house about a block or so from mine, I fixed it up with a little magic, and it looks great, I'm sure you can furnish it easily."

It's a lot to take in, Hermione Granger just offered me a house right near hers that she fixed it up for _me_. I really have no idea what to say "Wow, Hermione that's great thanks, I'll take it, but I hope you didn't spend too much time on it." she shrugs "No longer than was necessary."

A few days later, at my new house, Hermione is helping me furnish and organise my living room. She did ask Harry and Ron to come, I wasn't surprised when they said no. "I kinda want you guys to be friends…" Hermione confesses to me "It would be nice if my friends... and boyfriend... could all get along…" I pause "Boyfriend?" she looks at me innocently "Ron." I think I'm blushing, not a good look, I look away from her "Right, so you guys are properly together now?" she starts to get upset "Yes, and when did that become your business, Draco?" she snaps. I look down at her, the cut across her eye is dry, and the swelling has gone down. I reach out to stroke it, but she turns away.

Hermione sighs and turns to me "Draco, I didn't mean to snap. I really need to get back home though. You can handle the rest of the house by yourself I'm sure." she starts to leave, but I reach out and grab her arm "Just don't." she says, looking at me with an expression on her face that tells me to take her seriously. I let go of her, and she walks out the door.

About an hour later, I'm sitting in my half-furnished living room, reading the daily prophet. There's a knock at the door. I look through the peep-hole, it's Hermione. I wish I could pretend I'm not home, pretend I'm out, pretend I don't care, but I don't want to. I wish I could ignore the sad look on her face. She doesn't know I'm looking at her, I could look at her forever. She rings the doorbell, her look of sadness turns into a look of desperation. I wait, as if I'm walking to the door, while I quickly wave my wand and finish the furnishings in the living room so she doesn't think I was doing nothing the whole time she was gone. Then I open the door.

I realise she's crying, I didn't see that through the foggy, distorted muggle peep-hole. She looks at me and starts whispering something I can't understand "Hermione? Are you ok? I can't understand what you're saying, speak up a little." I place my finger on her chin and lift it, so she is looking me in the eyes "It's over…" she whimpers. I don't quite know what she's talking about, but I want to comfort her so I gesture for her to sit down "It's over… me and Ron."

This time I understand her, but why would she tell me? "Why aren't you talking to Ginny, or Harry, or any of your other friends, I don't really know you well enough to know how to help you…" I say to her as I place my hand gently on her shoulder. She starts crying softly again "They're on his side." I realise what must have happened "A fight? Don't worry I'm sure he'll get over it, you'll make up." I say, trying to sound like I wanted them to make up, I wish I wanted them to, I wish I didn't care.

"Ron told me he loves me. I don't love him back, but I still really like him and that's not enough for him. I told him I still want to be with him, and maybe when we've been together for longer I might love him, but not right now. He thinks that's mean, and he could never be with me if I don't love him, Harry agrees and Ginny thinks I should have told him I loved him, then waited until I did, if I think it might happen one day. It's not like them." I put my arm around her shoulders and she lets her head rest on my chest "Then what if you never do love him? If you tell him after you've lied to him for a while, he'll get even madder." she looks at me as if that's the one thing she wanted to hear from me.


	3. ch 3 Hermione POV

Strange things happen when you don't know what you're doing. I just made friends with Hermione Granger. I kissed her, to save her life, and now we're friends. I wish I still hated her. People say that when you're friends with a person… it's very hard to become anything more than that. I hate that I don't hate her. I wish she wasn't with that Weasley idiot, too though. What would have happened if I had been put in Gryffindor, after my father disowned me of course.

She's at the Weasley's house now. She's sorted everything out with her parents. She had to remove their memories so they would forget her, so that they would not be found by deatheaters. I wish I could forget her. I'm still at Hogwarts. I'm not going home. Not after father saw me kissing Hermione. I'd be kicked out straight away, so there's no point anyway.

I hear a voice coming from behind me. "Draco? You're still here?" I look up. It's Hermione! "Um, yeah, I don't think I'm going back to the 'Malfoy Manor' now, not after last night." she sits down beside me "I'm so sorry. You didn't need to do that for me, you know, last night… I'm sure your father wasn't specifically after me." I look down into her muddy brown eyes. Her left eye is half-closed and swollen, as a deep cut streaks from her eyebrow to the top of her nose, the eyelid isn't cut through, but it looks painful.

"My father… he… he would have found you eventually… he was looking for… muggle borns." I reach out and brush a few hairs from her face. She smiles and takes my hand. "Thank you." she says softly. I gently stroke the cut that covers her left eye, she winces and takes my other hand too. Then she stands up and leads me into the castle, still holding my left hand. We walk up to the old astronomy tower, the roof is gone, and the outer walls are gone too. Hermione sits on the edge of the floor and I sit beside her.

After a while we start talking. We talk for a long time and eventually the sun is directly above us, I look at my watch, it has stopped working. Hermione looks at her's "Midday." she says. She stands and we walk back down to the front of the castle "I've got to go home. Mum and Dad just remembered they have a daughter, I think I need to be with them at the moment." she says and lets go of my hand. It feels limp and a little sweaty after three hours of being interlocked with hers. I wish she didn't have to go. I wish I wanted her to go. I wish she didn't have this impact on me. Why do I feel this way? I don't want to. Not at all.

I slowly wander back into the castle and sit there for a while. Slowly the sky gets darker and it's almost night again, it's six o'clock. I start walking out of the castle, not sure where to go. Then Hermione runs up to me. She's back? Again? "Draco, there's a place you can stay. Now I think you should talk to your parents, but I know you might not want to live with them, so I found a place for you. It can be as permanent as you like. There's this little run-down house about a block or so from mine, I fixed it up with a little magic, and it looks great, I'm sure you can furnish it easily."

It's a lot to take in, Hermione Granger just offered me a house right near hers that she fixed it up for _me_. I really have no idea what to say "Wow, Hermione that's great thanks, I'll take it, but I hope you didn't spend too much time on it." she shrugs "No longer than was necessary."

A few days later, at my new house, Hermione is helping me furnish and organise my living room. She did ask Harry and Ron to come, I wasn't surprised when they said no. "I kinda want you guys to be friends…" Hermione confesses to me "It would be nice if my friends... and boyfriend... could all get along…" I pause "Boyfriend?" she looks at me innocently "Ron." I think I'm blushing, not a good look, I look away from her "Right, so you guys are properly together now?" she starts to get upset "Yes, and when did that become your business, Draco?" she snaps. I look down at her, the cut across her eye is dry, and the swelling has gone down. I reach out to stroke it, but she turns away.

Hermione sighs and turns to me "Draco, I didn't mean to snap. I really need to get back home though. You can handle the rest of the house by yourself I'm sure." she starts to leave, but I reach out and grab her arm "Just don't." she says, looking at me with an expression on her face that tells me to take her seriously. I let go of her, and she walks out the door.

About an hour later, I'm sitting in my half-furnished living room, reading the daily prophet. There's a knock at the door. I look through the peep-hole, it's Hermione. I wish I could pretend I'm not home, pretend I'm out, pretend I don't care, but I don't want to. I wish I could ignore the sad look on her face. She doesn't know I'm looking at her, I could look at her forever. She rings the doorbell, her look of sadness turns into a look of desperation. I wait, as if I'm walking to the door, while I quickly wave my wand and finish the furnishings in the living room so she doesn't think I was doing nothing the whole time she was gone. Then I open the door.

I realise she's crying, I didn't see that through the foggy, distorted muggle peep-hole. She looks at me and starts whispering something I can't understand "Hermione? Are you ok? I can't understand what you're saying, speak up a little." I place my finger on her chin and lift it, so she is looking me in the eyes "It's over…" she whimpers. I don't quite know what she's talking about, but I want to comfort her so I gesture for her to sit down "It's over… me and Ron."

This time I understand her, but why would she tell me? "Why aren't you talking to Ginny, or Harry, or any of your other friends, I don't really know you well enough to know how to help you…" I say to her as I place my hand gently on her shoulder. She starts crying softly again "They're on his side." I realise what must have happened "A fight? Don't worry I'm sure he'll get over it, you'll make up." I say, trying to sound like I wanted them to make up, I wish I wanted them to, I wish I didn't care.

"Ron told me he loves me. I don't love him back, but I still really like him and that's not enough for him. I told him I still want to be with him, and maybe when we've been together for longer I might love him, but not right now. He thinks that's mean, and he could never be with me if I don't love him, Harry agrees and Ginny thinks I should have told him I loved him, then waited until I did, if I think it might happen one day. It's not like them." I put my arm around her shoulders and she lets her head rest on my chest "Then what if you never do love him? If you tell him after you've lied to him for a while, he'll get even madder." she looks at me as if that's the one thing she wanted to hear from me.


	4. ch 4 Draco POV

I just kissed Hermione Granger! I told her I liked her, and she kissed me, then she told me she loves me, and I love her back! Last night was the best night of my life! Not only does she not hate me, not only is she my girlfriend, but she loves me! She loves me! Not only that, but I know it's true because she said it first, and after what happened with Weasley I'm pretty sure she wouldn't say it if she didn't mean it.

I'm about to get out of bed, I hope she's not up yet, I want to go into her room and wake her up. I'm getting out of bed. She's not up, she's still asleep, I almost don't want to wake her, I want to watch her sleep, but I will wake her. "Good morning." she says as I gently kiss her forehead. We go out to the dining room and have breakfast. There's a ring on the doorbell. Hermione answers it, I follow.

It's Weasley. He sees her at the door in her pajamas "So I go to your house to apologise, only to find out that you stayed the night at a friend's house, and you came _here_? Isn't this Malfoy's house?" Hermione glares at him "I didn't stay at a friend's place last night." he rolls his eyes "I stayed the night at my boyfriend's house." he looks furious "You're not!" he yells and lunges at me, but Hermione jumps in front of me so I won't get hurt "You're not going to hurt him!" she yells "Well not with you in front of him I'm not!" Hermione clings onto my hands tightly "Well then I guess I'll hold onto him forever. Ron, please, I love him." Ron's eyes widen and he looks from me to Hermione and back "Please." says Hermione. Ron storms out of the house.

What am I supposed to do? Or say? Hermione looks at me, her eyes start to tear up. I let go of her hands and kiss her forehead "Go." she kisses me gently on the nose and runs out the door to follow Weasley. I wish I still hated her. Then Weasley would be apologising to her right now, they'd be making up, then they would get back together. I don't want them to get back together now, but if I still hated her I wouldn't care. Then there wouldn't be all this confusion. She wouldn't be sad right now. I'd feel better if I knew she wasn't sad.

A few minutes later, after I made her bed and neatened it up a little, like room service at a hotel, she comes storming in the door. I walk out to the living room and she slumps onto the couch "I hate him!" she yells. Slowly, I walk over to her and sit beside her "He's disgusting! I can't believe him!" she continues. She seems to be talking more to herself than to me "What's wrong? What did he do? Just a few minutes ago you didn't want him to go, what changed?" I ask, trying to calm her down "He tried to kiss me! He saw me coming after him and disapparated, but I managed to grab onto him, so I came with him. When we got to The Burrow, he pulled me into the garden and tried to kiss me! I pushed him off, but he ran after me. So I disapparated and he came with me, so I came in here. He might still be out there." I listen to her and try to take it all in.

"Can you go out and see if he's still there?" Hermione asks me timidly "Sure, but what would you like me to do if he's still there?" she closes her eyes, "Anything you like." I nod and walk outside. He's still there. He smirks at me, but I ignore it. I walk up to him "What do you think you're doing? You tried to kiss Hermione? Do you know what she's doing in there?" I yell, surprised at my own fury "Packing?" smirks Weasley, looking proud of himself. I try to stop myself from hitting him "She's crying. She hates you. Do you think you can come to my house, make my girlfriend cry and have me just watch from the sidelines?" He looks taken aback "Crying?" I nod and he runs past me and tries to go in.

Hermione jumps up, wiping her eyes quickly "What are you doing here? Get out! I thought you had gone!" He rolls his eyes and walks in "What's wrong?" he says, not so much a question, as a statement "_What's wrong?_ I'll tell you what's wrong, Ronald Weasley! You love yourself so much you thought you could _kiss_ me and I'd… what, _enjoy_ it? Is that what you thought? That I'd leave Draco and fall in love with you all over again? You're an idiot, Weasley and you can quote me on that! Just leave!" she screams and falls back down on the couch. I run over to her, put my arm around her and kiss her head.

I can't believe he still isn't getting the message. He's still here and he thinks that's ok? "Don't you see that you're not wanted here? Don't you see that Hermione and I both want you to leave? It's not your house and surely you have someone else to harass!" Weasley looks at Hermione's teary face and then looks back at me "Fine, but it's not her house either, why isn't she leaving?" Hermione stands "I'll leave, but I'm not going with you, Weasley!" he looks shocked, hurt even.

"You don't have to leave, Hermione. It is your house… partly at least." Weasley looks a little confused "You bought a house together?" I sigh silently "No she found it for me, fixed it up, and helped me furnish it." Hermione smiles and sits back down, smirking at Weasley. He leaves and slams the door behind him.

Hermione reaches her arms out to me and I sit beside her and hug her. Then she stops and quickly pulls away, I look at her as if I've done something wrong, but she leans in again and presses her lips against mine. I wrap my arms around her waist and let my hands move over her back. She pulls herself up onto my lap and wraps her legs around my waist, her right hand in my hair and her left hand slowly grazes my thigh, back and forth. I lean forward and my chest presses up against hers, making her lye on her back on the sofa. I pull my head away and start kissing her neck, she stretches her neck back and pulls me in closer to her body, clutching me tight. I take my hands away from her back and start pulling at her jumper.

She lets go of me suddenly, looking at me like I've done something dreadful "What are you doing?" I pause, trying to sound like I'm not worried "What?" she straightens up her jumper "Undressing me? I'm sorry, I'm not ready for that kind of thing." I suddenly understand what she means "Oh, right. I'm sorry I didn't know, I mean-" she cuts me off "It's ok, I just… y'know. I'd rather wait until I'm married…" I take her hands gently "I understand." I say, smiling "Thank you. Um, just out of interest have you…" I pause, shocked "No, no. I haven't ever been in love. That's what I was waiting for…" She smiles and starts kissing me again.


	5. ch 5 Hermione POV

I love Draco Malfoy. Something I never thought I'd say two weeks ago. A few days ago I asked him if he'd ever _been with _anyone. He said he was waiting until he fell in love, I'm still waiting until I get married though. I already knew then that he loved me, but when he said that it made me so happy. I want to go back to Hogwarts this year, but I don't want to leave him. I'll never want to leave him. Ever.

I'm at his house again, I've been spending a lot of time here lately. I like it here, I get to spend more time with Draco. I'm making dinner, the muggle way. Draco's watching me, fascinated, he's never seen food being made before, living with his parents he always had a house elf to make meals and tend to his every need. I'm showing him how to cook a steak. I decide to tell him that I might be going back to Hogwarts "Draco, I think I'm going back to school this year. I didn't go to school last year, what with finding horcruxes and what not, so I thought I'd do some catching up, repeat my last year at Hogwarts." he looks at me silently for a moment "I see, it's a good idea. I know you love your work." I look up at him, "But I love you more." I whisper, still hoping he won't get upset that we won't be seeing each other all year "Well, I didn't get very good marks last year, and I didn't spend all my time doing work, for some of it I wasn't even at school. Maybe I'll come with you." he seems to read my mind. I grin and continue with the steaks.

Hours later, curled up on the couch together, Draco brings up the subject of Hogwarts again "Will we need to study a bit more, brush up on the stuff we learnt in sixth year?" I smile at him "You already completed seventh year, you know what you need to know, do _you_ think you need to study?" he smiles "I guess not, will you? I can help you prepare." I roll my eyes "Don't worry about that. Believe me, I've already studied enough, even through all of last year, figuring out how to kill Voldermort and everything, I think I know everything I need to, I remember sixth year. You don't need to worry." Draco wraps his arms around me and kisses my head.

There are only a few weeks left until September. School starts soon. I've already started packing my trunk, I'm at home. I hope Draco comes over, I've spent a lot of time at his house lately, I don't want to seem too clingy. There's a knock at the door, I run to open it, maybe it's Draco! I open the door and see Ron standing there. Without thinking I swing the door closed again. He knocks on the door again. What do I do? We haven't talked in days and I just slammed a door in his face! I open the door again, trying to appear as if I don't really care that he's there, but I am a little excited.

"What was that for?" he asks me, irritably "Sorry." I retort, sarcastically. He walks in "Can we talk?" I close the door and walk into my bedroom, not indicating for him to follow, but he does anyway. When he enters I close the door behind him "What do you want from me?" he sits down on my bed "I'm sorry. About everything. About getting mad at you for not loving me, about trying to kiss you when I knew you were with Draco, everything." I know it isn't enough, but it was well said, I still don't think I should forgive him straight away though…

There's another knock at the door "Maybe that's Harry or Ginny, their apologies weren't exactly… anyway…" I leave the room and answer the door, it's Draco "Hey sweetie!" I say and kiss him on the cheek, then see that he's looking over my shoulder. Ron's followed me to the door and they've seen each other "Draco, Weas- Ron was just coming over to apologise, and-" Ron comes over to me looking offended "What?" I pause for a moment "What?" I reply "What did you call me… before you corrected yourself. You're still calling me Weasley?" I blush a little "Well, Ron I'm still a little mad at you… you really upset me."

Draco places his hand gently on my back "I think you guys should sit down and talk properly, should I leave?" I spin around quickly, taking his hand "No, stay, you can help me talk." I say, I desperately want someone else to be here when I talk with Ron. We all sit it my bedroom. For a while nobody talks, then I break the silence "Look, Ron, it's great that you apologised, but I am still really upset. Not only did you get mad at me for not loving you, but you turned my two best friends against me! Then you storm off when you find out I'm with Draco and you try to kiss me when you know I have a boyfriend already! It's not one of those things I can just forgive and forget."

Ron sighs "I get that I made a few mistakes, but do I really have to suffer for it much longer? I've apologised, what else do I need to do?" I pause, taking in breath "That's all you need to do, now you just wait while I get over it. I'm sorry, but I can't forgive you that quickly." Ron shakes his head and leaves. I follow him to the door and just as he is leaving, I think of something. "Ron, you might be able to help me forgive you faster…" he turns slowly "What?" he doesn't seem very interested "Well, if I have more than one person waiting for me to forgive them, then I might not take as long…" I hope he understands what I'm talking about. He nods and keeps walking. Later on, Ron comes back with Harry and Ginny "I sure hope this is what you meant, because it took a lot to get them here."

About thirty minutes later everything's sorted, Harry apologised, Ginny apologised, they both explained why they had said what they'd said, I cried a little, we all yelled a bit, and now we've all made up. I told them about Draco too. My life is perfect. No enemies, no grudges, all my friends are my friends, and I have a great boyfriend. I'm scared that something might happen now that I've said that, but I'm sure It'll all be fine.

I just told Draco everything that happened today, because he left a few minutes after Ron this morning "I'm glad it all worked out, so everything's good now?" I stare into his crystal grey eyes, wrap my arms around his neck and say "Perfect!" and before I know it we're lying on his couch again, my hands on his back and in his hair, his hands on my sides, he's kissing my neck, my legs are around his waist and my head is tilted as far back as I can make it go. We're in pajamas so he's not wearing a shirt, he presses his bare chest into my body and I squeal as my breath is taken away, the pressure of being held between Draco and the couch could wind me, but I like it.

Draco stops kissing my neck and descends to my collar bone, I exhale slowly and loudly, then he slowly moves back to my neck, then my lips…

We both jump up all of a sudden and I squeal a little as the door swings open.


	6. ch 6 Ron POV

I think everything's okay with Hermione now. I just went to see her, but she wasn't home. I'm guessing she's at Malfoy's again. So I just hope I can talk to her there, because I don't know how well I'll be able to talk to Hermione if Malfoy's there, watching and listening.

I've knocked on the door about three times. I don't know whether Hermione's still a little mad, or if she just can't hear me. I know they're both here. I can hear sounds coming from inside, I hope they don't mind if I just open the door, it seems to be unlocked…

That is not what you want to open the door to. Your best friend (who you're still having trouble falling out of love with) and your ex-arch-nemesis (who you still don't necessarily like) making out on the couch. I know they're together, but that doesn't mean I need to see it, no wonder they didn't hear me knock on the door. I turn and close the door again, quickly.

I'm just about to apparate back home, but Hermione's running out of the house. "Ron! Stop!" I wish I hadn't come. It's going to be so awkward now. Not just now, but for a very long time.

Hermione runs up to me and grabs onto my shoulder. I look at her hand on my shoulder, quite uncomfortably. She blinks and clears her throat, then quickly withdraws her hand. "Ron, I'm sorry about that, but you shouldn't barge into someone else's house without knocking, what were you-", "I did knock! Three times! I thought you were still mad at me because I could hear you two talking, or at least what I thought was talking, I get that now." Hermione reaches out to hug me, but I pull away.

She sighs and looks upset "What is it now?" I stare at her, as if she wouldn't know! Was she even here the last few minutes? Or does she just think that it's all okay now? "I'm sorry, I just feel a little uncomfortable after seeing… that…" she looks at her feet and nods "Just, Hermione, if I hadn't come in when I did, would you, I mean… what would have happened?" Hermione looks taken aback, then she shakes her head smiling, "No, Draco knows… what I want, you know, that I want to wait…"

This is a slight relief, I'm a little less uncomfortable. Before I kept thinking that if I had come a few minutes later, then I would have seen something much worse than what I did. Now I wish I had been later, then I may not have seen anything… I'm still not completely comfortable.

Hermione reaches out to hug me again and this time I give in. "So what was it you wanted Ron?" she asks me "What do you mean?", "Well, why did you come over here? I'm sure I can safely assume that you weren't just coming for a social visit, not here anyway…" I completely forgot about why I came here "Oh, right" I sigh quickly "I actually came to your house first, but you weren't there.", "Well I think I know I wasn't there, Ron" Hermione interjects "But go on…"

I sigh and continue, "Well, I got to your house, your parents told me you were out, so I assumed you would be here and came… that's where you catch up." I finish, rolling my eyes and looking up to the sky. "But why did you want to come and see me? Why did you come to my house in the first place?" There's a pause "Ron? Hello… Ron? What are you looking at, what's up there?"

She follows my gaze into the sky and freezes. "Oh."

The sky is dark. Darker than usual at this time of night. There are clouds rolling rapidly across the sky, dark clouds, not just grey, not just dark grey, but black. Black clouds. Black as ink. They're covering the sky, covering every inch of the sky, the pink of the sunset sky is slowly disappearing. The Midnight clouds are getting thicker, soon, I can barely see Hermione. Malfoy comes running out of the house, I can only see him because of his platinum blonde hair. We all look up at the sky. Total darkness, it still keeps getting darker, and darker… and darker… and darker… then a ringing sound fills the silence, it's high-pitched and not very loud, but in this silence, it could be heard a hundred meters away.

It's coming from inside. Hermione goes in. Is she crazy? It could be anything. After a minute, the ringing stops and Hermione starts talking, but there's nobody else in there, like it's only one end of the conversation. "I'm fine, mum... I don't know what it is, but it's okay, I'll figure it out."

Hermione comes back out again. "That was mum." She tells Draco, "She and dad are okay, but no-one knows what it is." now I'm starting to understand a little, but not the ringing… "Was that a patronus or something? Then what was the ringing?" Hermione sighs and I see her silhouette move towards me "No, Ron, that's a phone, it's a muggle form of communication. Muggles can't send patronuses, or even conjure them, my parents are muggles, remember?" I think I've used a muggle 'phone' before, if it's the same thing as a 'Telephone' that is. "Is it like a telephone? I've used one before, dad showed me." Hermione sniggers. "Ron, 'phone' is short for 'telephone', they're exactly the same thing."

Eventually the sky is so dark that I can't even see silhouettes anymore. My eyes won't adjust. Hermione tells us that we should all keep talking and make a sound at least every minute, so that we know where everyone is and we know that nothing's happened to anyone. Hermione finds torches and lamps, but when they're turned on, they only last a second before they turn off. "Someone's doing this on purpose" whispers Hermione, "Someone's trying to scare us."

Draco agrees, "I'll bet it's about Voldermort. Now that he's dead, one of his braver followers is kicking up a stink and trying to scare everyone. Deatheaters do that kind of thing."

I hate to agree with Malfoy, but it seems to be a good explanation. "So what do we do? We're not just going to sit here and wait for them to do something drastic, we're going to do something! When Voldermort attacked Hogwarts, when Voldermort killed our friends, did we sit down and wait for it to end? NO! We fought! So get up, we're going to my place, we're getting Harry, Ginny and Fr... and George" I want to keep strong, but when I mentioned Fred, my voice dropped and trailed away. Hermione takes my hand "Come on then." and the three of us apparate to the Burrow.


	7. ch 7 Draco POV

Weasley is right sometimes. It's annoying, but it's okay, because it isn't that often. I can't complain right now because I feel like I'm blind and it's the only thing I can do.

It's strange being inside the Weasleys' house, but it's so dark that I can convince myself I'm anywhere, I can't see what it looks like, or what's happening. It's a little unnerving. I hear Weasley telling Harry, Ginny and George to come with us, then he tells me and Hermione to go back outside. All six of us go outside and look into the sky, it looks no different to how everything else looks right now. Hermione lifts her wand and whispers "Lumos" the tiny light that has just formed at the end of her wand shows a few things around her, but it doesn't reach very far. "Whatever spell was used to make the clouds also stopped anyone from using muggle forms of light, like torches or lamps or even lighting up phone screens, but there is no spell that can stop a wizard or witch from using spells with their own wand without disarming them or blocking them, or something else, but you can't stop a witch or wizard using spells without being nearby, and that would be too hard, disarming every wizard and witch in the world, or however far this darkness reaches." Everyone else lights their wands "I didn't say anything at Draco's house because it's a muggle street and if any of his neighbours were to see, well I don't know what they'd say, they'd probably think we were the ones making it dark" she adds, seeing Ron's face.

It reminds me of the night Dumbledore died. I don't like talking about it, because whenever I do, I remember how scared and stupid I was. I tried to kill him, I'm glad I didn't, I still can't live with the guilt, if I had killed him, I would have felt far worse, and I still would.

Slowly, I lift my wand to the sky, the ball of light from my wand expands and becomes a beam, it grows longer and longer until it touches the black clouds. Then it makes a tiny explosion in the cloud and makes a hole in it. The hole grows, and very slowly starts spreading, it's so slow that it's hard to tell if it is moving at all, then Hermione does the same, then Harry, then Ginny, then Ron, then George. Soon, there are six holes in the black clouds. They're spreading faster now.

After about half an hour, the sky is almost back again, but the sunset is also almost over. Hermione and I go back to my house and start cutting holes in the clouds there, by morning, the sunrise is pure. Proper light.

Hermione walks into the living room, she just woke up, and says to me "You know last night, with all the stuff that happened, we were in our pajamas the whole time." I smile and nod "Oh well, for the most part we weren't even visible" I realise how weird that is, I went to the Weasleys' house and walked around their front and back yards in my pajamas. "It's worse for you though, Draco…" I pause, did it remind her of the night Dumbledore died as well? "You were shirtless!" Hermione grins cheekily. I roll my eyes and grin back at her, relieved, "I was just thinking that!", "Oh well, if they had any sense they would have enjoyed it" she added.

I smile back for a moment, then stop. "Do you really think that was it though?" Hermione looks up at me, realising I'm serious now "Whoever did that, made it dark… would they give up that easily? Would they give up just because one thing they did was stopped?" Hermione sighs and nods. "I wondered about that…", "There's something else coming. I know there is."

There is a loud crack from outside. Hermione gets up quickly "That'll be Ron I guess," she sighs and runs to the door. She opens it and goes outside. Less than five seconds later she comes back inside and locks the door behind her, pressing her back against the door.

"What did he do this time?" I ask, it can't be that bad, she was out there for three seconds. "It's… not… Ron" she pants. I stand up to go out the door, but Hermione spreads her hands and blocks me from going outside. I gently stroke her long, mousy brown hair, she seems to calm down a little. "I'll deal with it." I tell her, and reach for the door handle, but she stops me again. "You don't want him to know that you're here! Not you, its bad enough he knows where you live, if you confirm it… just don't go out there okay?"

Now I'm confused, and I wouldn't say this to Hermione, but I'm also a little scared. I'm her boyfriend, I'm supposed to be her rock, she needs to rely on me, if I'm scared… she'll be even more scared than I am. No. Put on a brave face and take care of Hermione. "Who is it?" I whisper in her ear, pressing my forehead against her temple. She just shakes her head. "Just don't go out there, okay? Please! Just promise me that you won't go out there, no matter what!"

There's another crack outside, Hermione sighs. "Maybe he's gone, just let me check." I go to open the door but she stops me, "I'll go, if he's not gone, then he'll know you're here, and he CAN'T know you're here!" I'm starting to get a little impatient now, she isn't telling me anything. She looks outside, then gasps, reaches out and drags in Ron, who looks completely astonished, and locks the door behind them. "What the bloody hell is Lucius Malfoy doing out there!?" he yells. "Ron! Shut up!" Hermione whispers quickly.

My father's out there. He's right outside my house. Now I might be a little more scared than I was before. "My father's out there?" My voice is shaking and I'm a little dizzy. "Look, Draco, don't worry, he might know you live here, but he can't prove that you're here. He might not even know this is your house! Because why would Ron be here? He doesn't know you two are friends!" Ron and I make eye contact awkwardly, then both look back at Hermione. "Oh, seriously! Now? You boys will just never admit that you might just be friends will you?"

"Can we look at the bigger picture here, you're right Hermione, the Draco he knows wouldn't let Ron into his house." Hermione's eyes are filling with tears, but she is smiling "What's wrong?" I ask quietly. "You called him Ron." I suddenly realise that since I stopped calling him 'Weasley' I haven't actually said his name out loud. "Makes up for all the times _you_ called me Weasley" sighs Ron, looking at Hermione, there is a long silence "Look, I don't know if he knows you're here, but he knows it's your house." Hermione and I turn to look at Ron. He looks a little guilty, "What did you do, Ron?" Hermione breaths, closing her eyes slowly.

"Well, when I got here, he was just standing outside the door, so at first I thought he was coming to see Draco, as if he was here for a social visit- Hermione what's wrong now?" She has tears in her eyes again. "You two say you aren't friends!" she gasps "You called him Draco, not 'Malfoy', this is progress" Ron rolls his eyes and continues. "Anyway, I assumed that Draco was trying to patch things up or something, so I said 'What are you doing at Draco's house?', and, then you dragged me in here."


	8. ch 8 Hermione POV

Lucius Malfoy. Right now he's the biggest threat to the world. Voldermort's dead, so he's next in line, and he's standing outside Draco's house. They haven't spoken since that night, that dreadful night, the night he saw Draco kissing me. It's a little scary. He knows it's Draco's house now. Ron accidentally gave it away, he didn't know that We didn't want Lucius to know, but now he does, and we're all in danger.

There's a knock at the door. All three of us turn around, staring at the door. I slowly step towards the it, Draco grabs my arm to stop me "I'm not letting him in, I'm just checking…" I whisper. I look through the peephole, it's Harry! "It's okay, it's Harry, Lucius is still there though." I let Harry in and hug him quickly.

"What's Draco's dad doing here?" My eyes fill with tears again "Hermione, what's wrong? are you okay?" Draco rolls his eyes "She cries every time we call each other by our first names now." he say and hugs me. "Look, Harry…" I sniffle again. "...we don't know why my dad's here, but he knows it's my house and I don't know what he might do if he gets in or if we go out" Draco sighs as he finishes speaking and he sits on the sofa, pulling me into his lap.

There's another knock at the door, I wonder if it could be Ginny, I don't want to look up, I'm a little worried that if there are too many people here, Lucius might do something, but why would he knock? Harry reaches for the door handle, "That'll be Ginny, she said she might come.", I stand up quickly, "Harry, no! Check first!" but it's too late, the door swings open and Lucius steps in, looking more disheveled and more furious than he did the night he saw Draco kiss me.

"Explain yourself Draco!" Lucius yells, I shudder and take a step backwards, Draco steps forward quickly and wraps his arms around my waist. Lucius' eyes widen and he looks me right in the eyes. I back up further into Draco, who quickly loses control. He lets go of me and steps towards Lucius, "I don't have to explain anything to you! Not a thing! This is my house, now leave! Get out and don't ever come back! Don't you dare come near me or any of my friends again!" he screams, with such force that Lucius steps away for a moment, looking quite astonished, then immediately steps forward again, "Draco, I am your father and you will not speak to me in that way! Don't you dare tell me what to do, these people are not your friends! They-" Draco cuts him off "Shut up! You're not my father! These _people_ are my friends, and you can't tell me they're not, now get out of my house! _NOW!_" he yells, his white face turning bright red.

I step aside and Ron and Harry both put an arm around my shoulder, I wonder what might happen if he finds out about me and Draco. Lucius looks as though Draco has just hit him. He steps forward and tries to tower over him, but Draco is taller, so it doesn't give the desired effect, Draco doesn't move, as his father steps towards him, he looks down his nose and says, under his breath, "Get out now, or you will regret it for the rest of your life." Lucius takes one sweeping look across the room, at Harry and Ron's glares, at me, wide-eyed and frozen, then back at Draco, red-faced and panting, then he leaves, there is a loud crack outside the door and all the tension in the room leaves with him.

I walk slowly towards Draco and wrap my arms around him. He kisses me gently on the head then looks up to the ceiling. "Thank you." I sigh gently and he smiles, looking down at me, "What for?", "I told you they were your friends." Draco rolls his eyes and hugs me tighter.

"So what were you two coming over for anyway?" Draco asks, turning to Ron and Harry. "Well, I came to talk about last night. I wanted to see if either of you had any idea what it was about, you know, who made it happen and all." Ron answers scratching his head. Harry nods, "That's why I came too, but now it's not so hard to figure out, think about it, who do we know that is evil enough, and has the incentive to make that happen?" Ron looks as though he has just read Harry's mind, "Do you really think so?" I think for a moment, "You don't mean…" Harry nods again. "Yup." Draco looks confused, "Who?" Ron sighs, as if Draco has forgotten 2 + 2. "No offense, mate, but I think it's your dad." I smile broadly "Hermione, what is it? That's not a good thing" Ron tells me sternly. "You called me mate." Draco explains, rolling his eyes, "But really, it's okay, I don't take offense to it at all. He isn't my father."

Harry and Ron left shortly after that. Now I'm about to go to bed. I'm staying at Draco's again. I love it here. Draco always leaves a chocolate on my pillow, and I get fresh flower every day, it's like living in a hotel. I go into my room and close the door. All of a sudden I feel as if I'm all alone, cut off from everyone and everything. I haven't had this feeling since before Draco kissed me for the first time. I open the door again quickly and step back out again. Draco walks towards me. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to bed." I nod my head and gesture to my bedroom, unable to speak. Draco walks in, I close the door gently, closing my eyes. Draco opens the door again and walks out, "I see." he murmurs.

Draco takes my hand and leads me into his bedroom. He hugs me gently and kisses my head, wishes me goodnight and starts to leave the room. "Where are you going?" I whisper, "I'll sleep in your room, it's okay, I'll be fine, whatever spell my father probably put on that room will wear off overnight." he tells me, but his face is strained, he doesn't want to be in that room any more than I do. I reach out my hands and take his. "No you won't." I say, and lead him over to the bed. He sits down, looking confused, "I don't want you going in there, you'll be scared and upset. I don't want that for you, I won't be able to sleep knowing you're feeling like that.", "I'm not going in there either." I say, and walk around to the other side of the bed. I climb in and kiss Draco's forehead, "Goodnight." I say, and roll over onto my side.

Draco lyes down too, pulls the duvet over us and wraps his arms around my waist. "I love you." he whispers gently in my ear, "I love you too." I reply "Don't ever forget that." he pulls me closer and rests his chin on my shoulder. I close my eyes and let my whole body relax. Draco moves his hands to my shoulders and crosses his arms across my chest, locking me in his grasp. "Don't ever forget it." I whisper, then drift off to sleep.


	9. ch 9 Draco POV

Last night Hermione slept in my bed, nothing happened, but it was nice. She slept for ages, I watched her sleeping for a while. She doesn't snore, she doesn't drool, she doesn't even mutter or grumble. Every now and again she'll sigh, or shift positions, but otherwise, she sleeps so soundly and so sweetly. I love Hermione Granger. I am so in love with her. I'm so glad I didn't ignore my feelings, kissing her that night was the smartest decision I've made in a long time.

Hermione's going back to school this year, so I'm going with her. She says Harry and Ron are going too, but although they're sort of my friends now, I'd rather just go with Hermione. Tomorrow is September 1st. We'll be heading off to Hogwarts soon. It might be strange going back there, as a nice guy, I've never been inside Hogwarts (while it was still standing) without pretending to hate Hermione Granger. It's been a very long while since I actually did hate her. I fell in love with her in fourth year, at the yule ball, she was so different to usual, I'd never seen past the bushy hair and the stacks of books before then. When I saw her all dressed up with smooth, shiny hair and that beautiful blue dress, I saw that she really could be beautiful, and from then on, I haven't seen her any differently.

Hermione is just waking up now. She opens her eyes and rolls over, looking up at me, I'm sitting up in bed, leaning against the wall. "Good morning, early bird." She sighs, and props herself up on her elbow, "Early bird?" I ask, "It's ten o'clock." Hermione sits up quickly, "Ten?" she jumps out of bed. "What's wrong?" I ask, jumping up after her. "It's September first!" she exclaims, running into her bedroom. "What? Isn't that tomorrow?" I wonder aloud. "No, it's today, and we need to be at the station in one hour! Get dressed!" She says, dragging her trunk out from under her bed.

I get dressed quickly, making sure I have all my things, I drag my trunk out, too. There's a knock at the door. Hermione runs into the living room, fully dressed and fully packed. "That's Harry, Ron and Ginny!" She yells, and opens the door. Harry and Ron are both standing there, trunks in hand. Hermione smiles, "Hi guys, sorry, we just got up ten minutes ago, Draco didn't wake me, he thought it was August 31st, so he isn't quite ready." she tells them, running into my room and grabbing a few things for me. "Where's Ginny?" Harry steps inside "She'll meet us on the train, she'd only just gotten up when we left." In about half an hour we set off for the train station.

"We're going to be late if we fly, walk or drive, so we might need to apparate, but then we'll be twenty minutes early." Hermione informs everyone, looking at her watch. "That would be fine if King's Cross Station wasn't packed with muggles, Hermione. If we just appear in the middle of the station, what will all the muggles think? It's not normal for them, you of all people should know." Harry reminds her. "It's okay, I know a place." Ron says and gets out his wand. We all take hold of our trunks and Ron takes us to King's Cross Station. We're in a bathroom. "Good thinking Ron, still… if someone were in here..." Hermione sighs, finally relaxed, knowing that we're going to be on time.

We sit down and have breakfast at a café quickly before entering platform 9¾. We board the Hogwarts express, with 5 minutes to spare, and find seats. I've never been on the Hogwarts express without a rude comment for Harry, Ron or Hermione prepared. Ginny steps into the carriage and closes the door behind her. "What's he doing here? Shouldn't he be in the Slytherin carriage?" She asks, looking at me. Hermione looks confused for a moment, "Don't you know? Didn't Harry or Ron tell you?" Ginny still looks confused and a little angry "Tell me what? Are you _friends_ with him now?"

Hermione looks at the ground and blushes slightly, "Hermione?" Ginny says, getting angrier now "Hermione, what's happening? Answer me!" Hermione looks up again, opens her mouth to speak, then looks at me. I don't know how to answer, I turn my head and look up at Ginny, about to explain, when her eyes widen, she stares at my left hand. I'm holding Hermione's hand. That just saved a very awkward explanation. Ginny looks back at Hermione, shaking her head slightly, "No!" Ginny breaths, Hermione stands and lets go of my hand, she starts talking, "Ginny I thought Ron would tell you, or at least Harry would, but-" Ginny cuts her off, turning on Harry and Ron now "You two didn't even think to tell me? Did you just think it was so unimportant that it slipped your minds? You're just so- _Shut up _Malfoy!" she screams as I begin to talk.

Hermione stands up again and starts yelling at Ginny now, it's a little terrifying. "_Don't_ call him that! His name is Draco, and you _won't_ call him Malfoy! If it's so hard for you to get, then you can leave!" Ginny stops, looking taken aback, looks down at me, then back at Hermione, she sits down next to Ron, "Fine." she mutters under her breath. Hermione nods and sits back down beside me. I kiss her head and take her hand again, "Thank you." I whisper. She smiles up at me, a small tear in her eye. I brush it away, and she rests her head on my shoulder. Ginny looks out the window, disgusted.

The whole ride is silent. By the time we leave the train, it's strange hearing people talking again. It's even stranger getting into the carriages, not only because now I can see the thestrils pulling them, but also because last time I sat in one of these, I thought it was my last time. The ride to the castle is silent as well. We all just sit, silently, waiting for the carriage to stop.

When we finally reach the castle, Hermione breaks the deafening silence. "It's weird being back here… I haven't seen this place for a while… not intact anyway." I smile "You saw it when you came here in July, it was intact for an hour or two then." I remind her, "I meant all around it, not just in a few different rooms, I wonder if the Gryffindor girls' dormitories have changed, I can't remember if they were destroyed completely or not." Hermione wonders aloud. We wander into the entrance hall, the sorting is about to begin and the first years are coming in. I leave Hermione and walk over to the Slytherin table and she follows Harry, Ron and Ginny to the Gryffindors.


	10. ch 10 Hermione POV

It's strange being back at Hogwarts, as a student. I've been here a week and Ginny still isn't speaking to me. She found out about Draco. Harry and Ron both admit that they should have told her, living with her and all. At least they realise that. So many things have changed, here at Hogwarts, after the damage that was done.

I'm in the common room now, studying while Ron and Harry pretend to do work as they play exploding snap behind their school books. "Honestly, boys! Do you think I don't hear that?" I ask eventually, getting agitated with them. Harry looks up and picks up a quill quickly, Ron sighs and puts away the cards. "Don't worry, I didn't ask you to put it away, I just thought I'd let you know I'm not stupid." I add. Ron smiles and sets up the cards again, "Draco's had a good influence on you Hermione!" but Harry pauses, "Ron, we have homework due tomorrow, if we expect Hermione to do everything we won't pass our newts." he says and gets out a roll of parchment. That trick should come in handy, Draco has been a good influence on me.

Although I do want Harry and Ron to pass their newts (without me forcing them to), I also want to discuss the night, about a week ago, where the sky went black. I want to discuss who they think did it, if they're sure it was Lucius Malfoy, and if it also reminds them of the night that Dumbledore died. The dark sky, the fear, the night Dumbledore died had all the same things, but there was a fight, there was so much fighting. When that happened, I thought that it was the worst fight I'd ever seen. I'd never predicted what would happen just a year later.

I sigh and put down my quill and potions textbook. "That night…" I begin, already not quite sure how to continue, "When you came to see me, Ron… when it all went dark… did it make either of you think… that it was a bit like…" I trail off, but Harry finishes my sentence anyway, "Like the night Dumbledore died. I thought so too. I didn't want to think about it." Harry closes his books too, looking upset… and a little angry. It seems like he wishes I hadn't even brought it up. I stand up and gather my books, "I didn't want to say anything either. Not for our sake, but for Draco's." I start pacing and my eyes fill with tears. "He was there too, Harry! He was scared, he thought he was going to be killed! In fact he might have been if Snape hadn't stepped in, and you know that Dumbledore wanted it, he asked Snape to do that! I didn't want to say anything in front of Draco! Imagine how guilty he would feel! If I remind him of that night, he would feel simply dreadful! I can't do that to him, so I had to ask you two, and you can't act like this, when Dumbledore died, it was hard for us all! I had to come to you, please don't do this, Harry!"

Harry pushes his books aside, looking at the floor, "Sorry." he mumbles. Then Ron sits up, "You _had _to talk to us?" he asks, as if there is some other perfectly reasonable solution. "I just explained why I can't tell Draco, and I didn't want to keep it bottled up, I would explode! I had to come to you." I explain, sitting down again. Ron rolls his eyes, "I meant, why didn't you come to us straight away? You've always told us everything first, when did Draco come into the picture, and why is he before us? We're your best friends!" I understand now. "Ron, I wanted to tell you two, but I knew Harry would have this reaction, and I knew I couldn't tell Draco, so I wanted to tell you all, I'm not choosing him over you or anything…" I trail off again, but not because I can't continue, but because Ginny is walking past and she looks at me. She still seems mad. Harry and Ron follow my gaze as Ginny leaves the common room.

Harry looks at me, "She's not really mad at you. You know that right? She's just a little uncomfortable, you hated Draco for so long, and now this is just sprung on her, how did you expect her to react?" I turn to Harry, "Thank you, but I think she is mad, she won't talk to me. I don't know what to do now." Harry sits up, "Hermione, she isn't mad at you. She's just in shock. She says she needs a little space from you and especially from Draco." I look at Harry. I frown and stand up again. "What? 'She says'?You talked to her?" Ron stands too, "What? Why is she talking to you? I'm her brother!" Harry nods and sighs, "Yes, Ron, but she isn't bothered about that right now unfortunately, she just wants space. She's talking to me because… well, because she can, and I'm not directly involved, and I'm not related to her." Harry explains. "That's not it!" I interject, "It's because you're her boyfriend!"

Harry stands up, looks at me and Ron, "Sorry, it's her decision not mine." he says, collecting his books and walking up to his dormitory. Just as he's leaving, Ginny walks back into the common room, her eyes wide and her hand clutching tight to her wand. She looks at Harry, he doesn't see her. At first I think she's going to follow him, but she avoids him, stepping slowly closer to me and Ron as Harry ascends further up the stairs.

When Harry is upstairs, Ginny runs up to me, ignoring Ron. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have judged you about that whole thing with Ma… with Draco." I pause for a moment, looking at Ron. "I'm glad you realised that Ginny, what made you change your mind?" She stops, blinking, and takes a quick breath, "Well… I… sort of… hexed him- but it's okay, Hermione he blocked it…" she informs me, as I open my mouth in shock.

"He asked me what I was doing, and I told him to leave you alone, and I said he was using you… I don't really remember the rest, but I said something about how you were being stupid, and he fought back, he told me that you weren't being stupid and that I shouldn't get upset at you, and you were upset because we haven't been talking." I look at the ground, "He also said that you're the only person he knows who isn't using _him_." I stop thinking for a moment. My eyes fill with tears, but I wipe them away quickly.

"What did you say to that?" I ask, knowing that surely she wouldn't have been rude to him again after that. "I apologised. I said I didn't know, and I think he's okay now."

I close my eyes for a minute. "Thanks Ginny. I might go talk to Draco now." I say, hugging her and walking away.


	11. ch 11 Draco POV

Ginny Weasley just hexed me. She just came up to me and hexed me, I blocked it, but then she started yelling at me about how I was using Hermione and she was being stupid. This last remark set me off. I couldn't help it, I don't like it when someone insults Hermione. I told her that Hermione isn't being stupid, that she shouldn't be upset with Hermione about it, and that Hermione is the only person I've known in a very long time, or at all, that hasn't been using me. This shut her up. She apologised, but I don't know whether to tell Hermione or not.

Another thing I probably should tell Hermione, I wasn't at school at all last year. She knows I wasn't there for most of it at least, but I wasn't there at all, I've been acting as if I was there all along, and I know what I need to prepare for, but I really have no idea, I don't want her to have a low opinion of me, especially since Ginny Weasley is just starting to respect me a little more. I don't know whether to tell her either of these things, but I probably should.

Hermione's walking past just now actually, a perfect chance to catch up with her, I need to. She's on her way to the library. "Draco, I was looking for you!" Hermione calls out, spotting me. "Looking for me? In the library?" I ask in disbelief, "Well, you never know…" she sighs, "Anyway, I was looking for you because I just talked to Ginny." I pause, did Ginny tell her? Everything? Or did she just make something up, something that sounds better for her? "She told me everything, she said she hexed you, and that she yelled a lot, and that you defended me," she smiles quickly when she says this, "She also said she apologised, and that you told her to start talking to me again, and you told her not to blame me." she continues, smiling again. "Thank you, Draco." Hermione steps towards me and hugs me.

As much as I am enjoying Hermione being happy with me, I still wish I could gather the courage to tell her about last year. She might feel unprepared, as if she doesn't know what she's doing, she isn't fun when she's stressed. I am the person who she asks when she doesn't know what we'll be doing this term, so I'll make something up and hope it's true. I don't want to do that anymore, I want to be honest with her. I love her.

Hermione releases me and looks up into my eyes, looking a little confused. She tilts her head and asks, "Draco, are you ok? You look worried, is there something you want to tell me?" I sigh again and start walking towards the library, leading her to a table and we sit down. Hermione reaches her hands across the table and takes mine. "What is it?" She asks again. I look deeply into her muddy brown eyes, stroke her forehead and then look back down at the table. "I love you. Just remember that, because I've been lying to you a little bit. I know that I said I was here for part of last year, but I wasn't at all, I was here as much as you were. I was with my parents… and… Voldermort. You know I was a deatheater, but you don't know I was dedicating my whole year to it. I promise you that it wasn't because I wanted to. I was terrified, of Voldermort, of my parents, of what might happen to me if I didn't do everything I was told… I was just scared, now I know that's a stupid reason too, but I just wanted you to know that I would never have chosen to do that."

Hermione stares at me for a moment, blinking, then starts speaking, "Draco, I know you weren't here all year, that's why I kept asking you about what we're supposed to be studying this term, because I wanted you to admit you didn't know. Just tell me these things in the future. I might already know, and I know you were scared, I know you didn't want to do the things you did. It's just not you, I knew you were only scared, but I will admit, it is a stupid reason, but peer pressure, especially from your parents, is hard."

That was easier than I thought it would be. I'm quite glad Hermione already knew, because she's not upset about any of it. It's Christmas Eve now, I'm at home, Hermione's in he kitchen, cooking, we're going to her house for dinner, and she's making something for me to take. I'm in the living room, waiting for her to finish up, I don't know a thing about muggle cooking, so I'm no help to her. As soon as she's done, we're leaving. I'm a little nervous. I've met Hermione's parents, and I've had proper conversations with them, and her father has given me the 'If you hurt her' speech, because he knows that I have, but I've never sat down in their dining room for a meal before.

During dinner Hermione and her parents talk a lot, I don't really know what to say, but every now and again someone will address me, so I respond, but that's about all. After dinner I stay for a little while, helping out with after-dinner chores and last minute Christmas arrangements. When I leave, I feel strange, I haven't spent a night alone in my house for a long time.

On Christmas morning, I head over to Hermione's house again. She's been up for a while, she hands me a present and hugs me. I smile and hand her a present too. I open mine, it's a broom-polishing & cleaning set, and broom gripping gloves. Hermione opens her present next, I gave her a new quill and ink set with her initials printed on the side of the ink bottle, I also added in a red wax candle for sealing letters, with a 'H' stamp to press into the wax seal. "Oh, Draco I love it! It's beautiful!" She cries, excitedly, "I'm glad you like it, and thanks too, these are great!" I say, trying on the gloves and examining them.

Later on Ron and Harry stop by to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Ron is wearing a maroon jumper with a golden 'R' knitted on the front. "Is your mum still making you wear them?" Hermione asks, noticing the jumper too. Ron sighs, "No, I chose to wear it today, she was giving everyone their jumper and she got all choked up when she handed George his, because she usually has one for Fred too. So I'm wearing it to show I care really." he explains. Hermione's eyes widen, "Oh, yes, it's your first Christmas without Fred!" she gasps, clapping her hands to her mouth, then hugging Ron tightly.

When the holidays are over, I go to Hermione's house again. We're all catching the train together again. I've sort of missed Hogwarts. I've never missed it before. I guess this year has been the best so far, and it's already half over.


	12. ch 12 Hermione POV

The Christmas holidays ended a while ago now, it's almost the end of the year, we only have a week left. I spent a lot of time talking to my family in the holidays. A lot of time discussing school, Draco and just catching up. I'm in the library now, catching up on a charms essay. Ron walks in and sits beside me. He takes my hand and looks at my ink bottle. "New?" He asks, "Not really, Draco gave it to me for Christmas." I say, smiling. Ron got me an opal necklace and a letter-writing set, with beautiful parchment and envelopes, I thought they'd go well with the letter-sealing candle Draco got me.

Ron looks at my parchment, reading it over. "I admire you, Hermione. I could never do work this quickly, it isn't due for days! How do you do it?" I roll my eyes, "It's my personality." I sigh, putting down my quill. Ron looks at me, smiling slightly, he gently touches my hair, brushing it away from my face. I look at his hand, it feels strange, but it doesn't feel wrong. He places his hands on my cheeks, and leans towards me, even though we both know we're doing the wrong thing, neither of us stops it. Ron leans towards me, his face close to mine, and he whispers, "I'm sorry." just before he kisses me.

I know I've just made a big mistake. I feel like the worst person in the world, it isn't like me to do something like this, but I think I love Ron too. I need to tell Draco, but I can't, he'll be so upset, after all, the day Draco and I got together I was upset at Ron, that's actually how it all started, but even though they're sort of friends now, this isn't one of those 'forgive and forget' situations. I would normally ask Draco what to do, but I can't, it's just too hard. If I tell him this situation is happening with someone else, he might be able to give some pretty good advice though.

I'm waiting for Draco now, we're meeting at the black lake. I look out at the water, the sun is so bright today, I wish it were rainy, gloomy, so then I wouldn't feel like I'm ruining a great day by lying and cheating. I close my eyes and let my head fall back, Draco sneaks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me gently on my neck. I jump and spin around quickly. "Draco! Hi! Sorry, I was daydreaming, I need your advice on something…" I begin, and we start walking around the lake.

Draco takes my hand and brushes some hair away from my face. I continue quickly, I feel dreadful, he's so sweet, so kind, and he loves me so much. "Um, Draco, it's… it's Ginny. Ginny and Harry actually." I quickly think of the first couple I can, "Well, Ginny kissed someone else, she feels dreadful, but she loves them both. I want to help her, but I don't know what to say." Draco looks me in the eye, seems to believe me and nods his head slowly, "I see. Well, if she tells Harry, you don't know what might happen, he could get really upset, so if someone impartial tells him, it might not be so bad. He will probably still be upset, but he surely wouldn't get as upset with them as he would with Ginny. She should get a friend to tell him, or Ron, or someone who is friends with both of them." he says. I raise my eyebrows, that was really good advice, now I just have to pretend I'm telling Harry for a little while, and make up a story to tell Draco about how 'it all worked out'.

Later on, I'm outside again with Harry, Ron and Ginny. Then Draco turns up. I've told Harry the whole story, I've asked him to be the impartial person who can tell Draco, if it were Ron, it would be dreadful, if it were me, it would still be horrible, but if Harry tells him, he can't get upset at him, and by the time he finds either of us, he'll be calmed down a little and will have had time to think about it.

Harry starts walking towards Draco, I'm starting to worry, is he going to tell him now? Surely not, not with everyone around. I look across at Ron, who is looking over at Harry by now too. The two of them are talking. Now I'm scared, Ron and I have no time to leave, so if he hears it now, we're right here to be screamed at, and possibly attacked… Draco's face is starting to fall, but he's the one talking, so it might be about something else. Then Harry yells out; "What? Ginny? I came here to tell you the same thing about Hermione!" Draco stops and his whole body freezes. He mumbles something else quickly, Harry yells again, "Ron! It was the other day! Who did Ginny kiss?"

Ginny stands and looks at me, "What did you tell him?" she whispers loudly, Harry runs back down to the group of us, followed by Draco. "Harry, I heard, I swear, I never kissed anyone! I don't know who told you, but it never happened!" Ginny begins quickly, Harry looks as if he's about to say something, but I interrupt, "Harry, it's true, Ginny would never do that to you. Believe me." I reassure him. He looks at me, seeming confused, then nods and hugs Ginny tightly, who buries her head in his chest.

Now Draco steps towards me, breathing heavily, but speaking so quietly it's almost menacing, "What about you? What about you and Weasley?" his voice begins to grow louder, "What happened with that? Is it true what Harry told me? Did you kiss him?" I step back, my eyes wide and filling with tears. "Well?" Draco is starting to shout now, Harry and Ginny have stepped apart to watch me and Draco, it makes me feel worse. "WELL? Did you?" Draco yells again. Ron steps towards me and attempts to step in front of me, but Draco stops and turns on him instead. "What happened, Weasley? Did my girlfriend kiss you?" he asks, quietly again. Ron stands up tall and looks down at Draco, "No." Draco frowns, "Oh, really?" he asks, his voice getting slowly louder again. "No, she didn't." Ron continues, "I kissed her."

Now Draco lunges at Ron, but Harry pulls him back, both Ginny and I jump in between them. Draco thrashes around in Harry's grip and eventually breaks free. He stands still and glares at Ron, then turns and heads back into the castle. I try to follow him, but Harry grabs my arm, shaking his head, and I stop walking and start crying. Ron wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.

A few days later, after dinner, I'm alone in the library, trying to read, but I can't see through the tears in my eyes. Draco walks in, sits across from me and stares at me, not mad anymore, but just hurt. I wipe my eyes and start talking "Draco, please listen to me, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to…" he cuts me off and stands up again. "I know, but you let it happen. I just wanted to ask… do you still love me?" I stand too, "Yes, Draco, you have to believe me." Draco looks at the ground, "Do you love him?" I stop, then look at the ground as well. "Yes." Draco looks back at me and nods. "You said you loved me. You can't love us both. Not properly. Do you remember the night before we came here? You said you loved me. You told me you loved me and you said never ever forget it." he says walking away…


	13. ch 13 (Epilogue) 18 Years Later

It's been so long, it feels odd being back at platform 9¾, my son, Scorpius is starting his first year at Hogwarts now. I can hardly remember mine. I just know that I made the biggest mistake of my life that day, I decided to hate Hermione Granger. Although I'm married now, to another muggle-born, I still sometimes think back to the night we first kissed. The worst and best night of my life. The War.


End file.
